What If It All Means Something
by Izzychase
Summary: OTH/SPN AU: John Winchester and his sons move to Tree Hill, and as they settle into their new lives shaped and influenced by their past, they find that new beginnings, friendships, and love can make it all mean something. AU
1. New Beginnings

Title: What if It All Means Something / Feels Like Home

Author: Izzychase

Disclaimer: Eric Kripke owns Dean, Sam, and John and Mark Schwan owns the Tree Hill crew. I don't own anything, so please don't come file litigations.

Reviews: Make me a very happy writer.

Summary: Dean, Sam, and John Winchester move to Tree Hill and as they settle into their new lives, they find that while the scars from their past can shape and influence them, friendship and the redemptive nature of love can make it all mean something.

*

The first time Dean drives up the road in his beloved 1967 Chevy Impala to his next and final high school, Tree Hill High, he's struck by how deceptively large it actually is as it stretches across the flat green fields and with its mass of activity that greets him as he's pulling into the student parking lot. Tree Hill is probably the smallest town he's lived in, besides Independence, Missouri where he and Sammy were born, but small towns are never as simple as they seem.

He's been hardened by life experiences and his own complicated relationship with his father to be able to be able to adopt a nonchalant attitude that allows him to go through life with being weighed down by the chaotic inconsistencies that have marked his life to date. He's had to have this assertive, assuring attitude to raise his brother, Sam, and to deal with his own rite of passage into manhood. The persona of the self-assured and confident green-eyed young man is one that has been unconsciously cultivated all these years.

When their father had stoically informed them that he had accepted a transfer to North Carolina from their previous home in Connecticut, Dean had not been surprised but he hadn't been particularly ecstatic, either. He didn't have any particular emotional connection to Connecticut but he had begun to develop a semblance of a normal life with a stable set of friends and a familiar routine and it was going to be disrupted, once again, by his father's perceived need to get himself lost in work in order to prevent him from drowning out the sorrows that had him sitting at the kitchen table alone, lost in thoughts with a glass of bourbon in his hand. Their father never raised a hand to him or Sam in anger, but the neglect had been enough.

"Dean? Are you going to keep circling the parking lot or find a spot to park?" Sammy breaks into his train of thought.

"Right, sorry." Dean mutters, choosing a place to park. He takes a deep breath, trying to leave the memories behind and start the year on a fresh page. He and Sammy exit the Impala, and make their way to the front entrance of the high school. He's starting his junior year and Sam is starting his sophomore year, and while Dean doesn't like the bustle of the first day too much, he likes the thrill of meeting new people, and if he's lucky, meeting beautiful girls who aren't too stuck up and not too dumb that they bore him. He and Sam have entirely different schedules anyways, and he's got to find his way to homeroom.

Dean gently pushes his way through the crowd of students, trying to figure out where he's going and when he finally finds his way and is making his way to his assigned homeroom classroom, he sees _her._

Her deep red hair with its highlights brought out by the morning sunlight is long and straight, and she's got a beautiful but slightly haughty expression on her face, her chocolate brown eyes gazing at the hall of crowded students with a look of boredom and slight hint of cynicism. She's got an amazing body, and she's wearing a black denim skirt that shows off her long and shapely legs and a pair of manicured feet with painted toenails in strappy sandals. She's also got a short sleeved and fitted white blouse that just accentuates her bust and trim waist with a delicate dangling gold necklace with its rings and chains delicately intertwined with one another- the look is understated but elegant and a juxtaposition to her denim skirt. She is, hands down, the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Her eyes finally meet his and he notices her giving him an appreciative once-over and Dean smirks in her direction. They've both noticed one another and that's just the first step. Dean thinks they're the same age- she's physically well developed and she looks like she would be in junior year, like him. He has this rule that he doesn't date sophomores, but he's okay with girls in his year or the year above him.

That moment is lost when the bell for first class rings, and everyone moves _en masse_, jostling past one another, calling out the names of friends, and hurrying to their class. The first day isn't turning out to be so bad, after all- he wonders if he'll have any classes with her and hopes that he'll see her again.

*

Nathan Scott, captain of the Tree Hill Boys Basketball team and all-around big man on campus, grudgingly took a seat in English class- Haley, his girlfriend, has been a terrific tutor, but it still doesn't mean he likes writing essays or deconstructing poetry like his half-brother recently turned friend, Lucas Scott. As he strides confidently towards his preferred seat in the middle of the room, he notices that there's a new guy sitting near the window and he nods in the guy way that acknowledges another fellow's presence.

"Hey, man, how's it going?" He greets. "I'm Nathan."

"Dean." The other guy offers, nodding. The guy doesn't look away from his gaze or seem nervous or shy, which earns him points in Nathan's book. Nathan has mixed feelings when he discovers that Lucas is in their class is well, shuffling towards the seat near Nathan with his book bag. On the one hand, now he'll get some help in English, on the other, he'll be subjected to the slightly know-it-all attitude that Lucas Scott, resident Tree Hill poet just seems to effortlessly convey without even trying to be annoying.

"Hey, man," His half-brother greets. Nathan and Lucas are no longer fighting (at least not publicly) and have developed a grudging respect for one another in the past year through basketball, and also united in part due to their mutual dislike of their father, Dan Scott. Nathan is also dating Lucas' best friend Haley, and for her sake, the two half-brothers have decided to put aside some of their old differences.

"What's up?" Nathan gives back the nod of respect. He and Lucas are co-captains this year and he doesn't want to start the year off on the wrong foot.

"Nate, we're still missing a spot on the roster," Lucas tells him. Nathan can't help but roll his eyes slightly. Does Lucas think that he doesn't know this already?

"Yeah, man, we're working on it- we've got a few guys trying out this afternoon, but between you and me, some of these sophomore kids can't even handle two of Whitey's drills, so it's going to be tough filling that spot."

"What's the tryout for?" The new guy, Dean, jumps in.

"The basketball team," Nathan answers. "You're more than welcome to come out too, man, if you want."

Dean nods, looking interested.

"I'm Lucas, by the way," Lucas introduces himself with a handshake.

"Dean," Dean takes the handshake.

"Do you play basketball?" Nathan asks.

"Yeah, I played a bit at my old school and was on their team before we transferred here."

Nathan nods. It can't hurt to have Dean try out for a spot on the team, and as the old saying goes, cream always rises to the top.

Things get interesting when Brooke Davis breezes into the room. Nathan knows that his brother and Brooke have been off and on since sophomore year, and from the looks that are going between the two of them right now, he's going to go with 'off'. Lucas visibly tenses at Brooke's presence, and despite Brooke's easygoing attitude, he notices that she deliberately walks past Lucas. When Brooke's eyes land on Dean, Nathan can't help but groan inwardly. He's seen this before- Brooke and Lucas fight; Brooke flirts with other guys; Lucas shows up to basketball practice slightly distracted and ends up talking with Jake in the locker room dissecting the "he said, she said" analysis; Peyton mopes around and draws more pictures; and Haley tells him about how she had to talk on the phone with Lucas all night when she and Nathan are settling into their tutoring sessions. Honestly, he doesn't know that much about Dean, but he wouldn't want anyone to be involved in this messed up triangle that Brooke and Lucas and Peyton have going on with the occasional guest appearances by Jake, Chase, and Felix because nobody ends up happy. However, by the way Brooke is making eyes at Dean, Nathan doesn't have enough time to warn Dean about what he's getting himself into.

"Hi, I'm Brooke," Brooke chirps cheerfully, extending her hand out to Dean. Nathan has to admit that Brooke is really hot- she's got long brown hair that's slightly curled and wavy, green eyes, great curves, a nice smile with cute dimples, and any guy lucky enough to land Brooke Davis should know what he's got. Today she was wearing a nice purple top and jeans with spiked heels that only Brooke Davis can pull off.

"I'm Dean," Dean shoots back an easygoing smile, and Nathan sees Dean giving Brooke the once-over, and really, who can blame him?

"Good to meet you," Brooke grins flirtatiously, and takes the seat next to Dean. Nathan hears her talking to Dean and Dean's responses, and Lucas gives him a resigned look before sitting down himself, opening his bag and focusing on class, and Nathan takes out his own binder out of his backpack. With a new guy in the mix, Lucas trying to tune out the conversation, and Haley not in this class with him, it's going to be a long year.

At least he gets to evaluate the tryouts this afternoon with Lucas and Whitey and focus on finding the Ravens a point guard.

*

Rachel Gatina shows up to cheerleading practice with a bit of a spring in her step. She doesn't normally like school, but she always like the thrill of a new school year and this morning, she's seen a really cute guy check her out in the middle of the hallway today. She's used to people checking her out- she's really pretty and has a great body, but the guy checking her out today was definitely hot. She had only seen him for a couple of moments, but she liked what she saw- a tall and muscular guy with light brown hair, piercing green eyes, handsome and with a slightly mysterious and dangerous look that simply drew her in. Rachel had never seen him around school before, so she supposed that he was new.

"Okay, everyone, positions," Brooke instructs and she's serious and ready to begin. She and Brooke had a healthy rivalry when Rachel first arrived in Tree Hill, but somehow, over the course of the last year, the two girls had become best friends and now had sleepovers on a semi-regular basis. Who would have known?

Brooke is ready to kick ass and take names. She and Brooke both enjoy cheerleading, but Brooke takes it so seriously and runs her squad like a tight ship, so Rachel knows that when they win championships, it's because they've worked for it.

They spend the next hour going through their dance routines, practicing new moves, reviewing old ones with Brooke moving up and down the line of girls like a drill sergeant, giving orders and critiquing technique. Rachel's not too worried- Rachel has gymnastics experience and is flexible and agile so there isn't much that Brooke can criticize her for (besides her aborted attempt to take over the squad last year) but she does notice that there's definitely some tension between Brooke and Peyton. Rachel normally shrugs, because the two girls seem to have a love-hate relationship most of the time; but Brooke is really snippy with Peyton today and the rest of the squad notices it too.

"Ok, you can all go home- remember to practice your moves because we don't want to show up to the opening game with steps out of sequence, or I _will_ call you out on it afterwards." Brooke dismisses them all, and several of the girls decide to go watch the new guys try out for the basketball team. Brooke seems like she's still in a bad mood, and Rachel decides to go over there.

"Hey Brookie," She greets.

"Rachel," Brooke returns. "God, I was such a bitch today wasn't I?"

"Yeah, what's up with you and Peyton? Is this part 33 of the never-ending Tree Hill Triangle?"

"For someone who's been one of my best friends since childhood, she sure isn't acting like it," Brooke grumbles. "And Lucas is so closed off right now that it's frustrating!"

Rachel doesn't want to go into the argument for the millionth time that Brooke has been too forgiving of Peyton and Lucas, because she knows that isn't what Brooke wants to hear.

"Well, you know what I always say- get over someone by getting under someone," Rachel smirks.

"Yeah, there's this totally cute guy in my English class! I think he's new and he's pretty gorgeous so he's a nice distraction. Lucas and I are in that class together, but Lucas hasn't approached me at all." Brooke sounds disappointed again.

Rachel gives her friend a side hug.

"Why don't I go see if he's out there right now and I'll go kick his ass for you?" Rachel suggests, half playfully, and half meaning it. She is so seriously ready to give Lucas Scott a piece of her mind right now and if Brooke hadn't been so protective of him she would have done it a long time ago.

"Yeah, maybe that might work," She hears Brooke laugh a bit shakily but she can tell that Brooke is still upset.

"Call me if you need retail therapy," Rachel calls out on her way out the door- she finds that in these situations, she needs to give Brooke some space because both she and Brooke would go crazy if they discussed this every single day.

She decides to check in on the tryouts that the boys' basketball team are holding, and when she walks into the gym, she's surprised to see the guy that was checking her out this morning there. He seems to be playing really well and by the quiet look of satisfaction on Nathan's face, she can tell that Nathan thinks so too. He's moving with agility and grace, and he seems to have a very instinctual feel around the sport. His tank top is slightly soaked with perspiration, but Rachel can see his muscular arms and lean but muscular body from where she's standing. She takes a quick look around and she sees at least two of the girls from the squad also checking out the new guy and whispering. Rachel's hands suddenly tighten into slight fists at her side, and she has no idea why she's reacting this way- it's almost as if she's _jealous_ and she wants this new guy all to herself. She watches the rest of the tryouts, watches as Nathan and Whitey thank the participants and pack up their things. Rachel speeds up to approach the new guy before the girls in the squad can, and she sees that his eyes light up in recognition.

"Hey, you did well out there today," She smiles at him flirtatiously while cocking her head to one side. The slight sheen of sweat on his handsome face suits him rather well, and now that she's so close to him, her own heart can't help but beat a shade faster.

"Thanks," The new guy grins. "So, I didn't know that you're a cheerleader?"

"Yeah, and if you end up joining the team, the basketball team and the cheerleaders often end up going to a lot of the away games together," She leans in a bit closer to him for more of a seductive effect. It seems to be working well because she can feel the slight nervousness and excitement from him.

"So I get to see you more often?" She looks up and finds him grinning at her, and he waggles his eyebrows in a playful and suggestive expression. She can't help but laugh at how humorous it is, and she decides to keep flirting with him.

"Maybe," She decides to be coy. She turns around to walk out the door, knowing that she wants to keep him guessing, and as she sashays out the door, giving him a full look at her hips and derriere, she can't help the smirk that's growing on her face.

When Rachel is walking over to her Escalade after stopping back at her locker for her book bag, she's surprised to see him dressed and showered so quickly and he's walking towards a classic car. He looks even hotter when he's dressed back in his normal clothes- a pair of faded jeans and a simple t-shirt complemented by a jacket and she finds that sexy because he doesn't even realize how wearing normal clothes brings out his defined good looks.

"Babe," He calls out to her. He's got a deep voice with a bit of a southern accent that she doesn't quite recognize and in spite of it all, she finds herself stopping. He catches up to her easily in a few strides and Rachel's heart speeds up again at how close he is to her. This time he's got a bit of a smirk on his face when he sees the slight blush creeping up her cheeks despite Rachel's best attempts to remain cool and nonchalant. "I never even caught your name,"

"What makes you think I'm giving you my name?" Rachel throws out a bit lamely, suddenly unable to respond with a witty remark.

"Suit yourself," He shrugs, but she sees his green eyes looking her up and down. "My name's Dean, by the way."

His eyes linger over her body a bit longer, but Rachel doesn't seem to mind his checking her out- she's in fact rather flattered by it.

"I'm Rachel," She returns. He nods and rolls the name over on his tongue.

"Rachel. Rachel, do you have a phone number?"

She gives a slight laugh at how bold he is, but she likes it- the fact that he can be assertive like that earns him points in her book and she's always liked confidence in a guy. She's not ready to give into him that easily though. She steps closer to him and grabs a bit of his jacket as she gets nice and close to him, until she can almost feel his abs and muscles against her soft but toned body. She takes her time leaning into whisper into his ear, and when she hears the slight sound of his heartbeat speed up, she whispers,

"You're going to have to work a bit harder than that if you want my phone number," She whispers this flirtatiously, and as she's pulling away from him she brushes a soft kiss against his cheek. She grins at him as she takes a step back and she sees his emerald green eyes blaze with excitement.

"All right," Dean accepts her challenge. "But I will get it eventually."

He gives her a wink and turns back, and he throws her one more look over his shoulder and gives her a grin before he keeps sauntering back to his car.

As Rachel reaches her Escalade and throws her book bag and duffel bag into the passenger seat beside her, before she starts the engine, she realizes that her heart is still racing a bit from that last encounter. She doesn't remember the last time a guy made her feel this way and she could swear that the electricity was just sizzling from their last interaction.

In his Impala, Dean has a ridiculously happy grin on his face as he starts the engine and listens to his baby purr in response. He's had a pretty good day so far- he's confident he can make the basketball team at his new school, he had two encounters with one of the most gorgeous girls he's ever seen, and the two of them seem to have chemistry. Well, maybe this wasn't such a bad start to the year after all.

_Author's Notes: I'm keeping the pairings fairly open for now- this is my first attempt at writing a fic with multiple character plotlines and couples. :)  
_


	2. Settling In

Title: What if It All Means Something / Feels Like Home

Summary: Dean, Sam, and John Winchester move to Tree Hill and as they settle into their new lives, they find that despite the ever prescient past that haunts them, friendship and the redemptive nature of love can make it all mean something.

* * *

Chapter Two:

Sam enjoys the peaceful quiet in the art classroom, where the silence lets him think his own thoughts. He's not much of an artist and he prefers classes like English and History, but this is a class that lets him to be away from both Dad and Dean, and to just _think. _Dean's the closest to a parent of anybody in his whole family, but even then, Sam knows that Dean's got his own life and his own troubles to deal with, and sometimes, Sam just wants to solve his own issues instead of having his brother solve them for him. Dean seemed preoccupied yesterday though, and he was humming on the way to school this morning, so Sam figured he must be in a good mood. Reaching for another brush to add another detail to his painting, he looks up to see a blonde girl with curly hair reaching for the same brush.

"Sorry," Sam sheepishly grins and lets the other girl go first. She shrugs and gives him a half-grin.

"No, you were first, why don't you go ahead?"

"Ladies first," Sam mentions, and she laughs.

"Well, it's nice to see gentlemen in this world," She says. Sam looks at the painting she's working on- it's got good clean lines and she's drawn several people all standing in a triangle, and the faces look vaguely familiar- as if they're people from this school.

"Wow, you're really good," He says, stepping closer to take a look.

"Thanks," She says with a shrug. "I do tons of drafts and sketches first before I start putting anything to canvas."

Sam can see that she actually takes this seriously and has talent, and her work is bold and striking.

"So, are you new here? I don't think I recognize you," The girl says, looking at him as if she's trying to figure out where she's seen him before.

"I'm Sam- I transferred over from Connecticut this year with my brother."

"Peyton- nice to meet you." She gives him a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you too," Sam smiles as he picks up the brush. Peyton doesn't chatter at him, like other girls tend to, which Sam can appreciate. However, when he hands her the brush, she gives him a smile and they keep working in companionable silence.

* * *

Brooke enters her English class, still in a bit of a foul mood. Teaching the girls new moves during cheer practice this morning and having to deal with Peyton was a bit too much at the moment, and having Lucas in this class doesn't make things easier. Lucas had stopped trying to reach out to her a few days ago, and she's snapped at him in class or outside of it, and one part of her doesn't blame him for not trying to make a special effort any more because she's been so mean to him every time he does. She's still hurt about what he and Peyton did, and she doesn't let these things go that easily. When she sees Nathan and the new guy who was trying for the basketball team yesterday talking, Brooke puts on a bright smile. Just because she still dealing with the Lucas-Peyton drama doesn't mean she's stopped looking at cute guys.

"Hey guys," She says, picking the seat in the aisle next to the new guy.

"Hey," They both respond before turning back to one of their previous conversations about basketball and the team. Brooke sees some of the other girls check out the new guy, and when they see her looking at him too, they immediately look away, intimidated and knowing they have no chance while Brooke is still around.

She sees Lucas up ahead, reading the Faulkner novel they're studying, and Brooke can't help but smile fondly at how Lucas is so engrossed in the book. She knows he's actually read the entire book and he actually takes this class seriously. _This is going to be so hard_, she thinks.

Looking away, not wanting to deal with the rush of feelings that come back every time she looks at him, she notices that Nathan and the new guy are still talking about the Ravens' hopes for this year.

"Yeah, Dean, I think we still have some gaps in the team, but they're a good group of guys and I think it'll be great that you'll be around this year. One thing we do need is a forward who can think through the plays."

_So, his name is Dean, _Brooke notes. He seems nice enough, and he notices that she's looking at him. His eyebrows raise slightly, but not in an unfriendly way. She can see the tiniest bit of a smirk on his lips. _Well, at least this class doesn't have to be absolutely awful._

Mr. Iverson clears his throat up at the front, and Brooke reaches into her bag for her copy of Faulkner, taking out her spiral notebook and she quickly flips past the page where she's written _Brooke + Lucas Forever_.

_It's a brand new year_, she tells herself.

* * *

Dean walks to his third class of the day, Civics, and his eyes widen in surprise of the good kind when he notices that Rachel is already sitting in one of the seats by the window. The late morning sunlight catches in her bright red hair, and the red of her hair is a nice contrast to the deep green cotton cardigan and tank top she's wearing. She looks up and sees him looking at her, and her lips quirk up in a flirtatious smirk. Dean smirks back, knowing the effect he has on girls, and saunters over to take the seat next to her, gracefully setting his books down on the desk.

"Good morning, Rachel," He greets her. "I didn't know you transferred into this class but maybe I shouldn't be surprised."

"I hated having civics in fifth block," She says breezily. "Although I admit that it's nice to see you here."

Dean laughs and he can sense that Rachel does like him and is attracted to him, even if she won't admit it.

"Well, you'll see me at practice too," He says and their eyes meet for a split second, his deep green eyes meeting her soft brown ones, "Pretty soon you won't be able to get enough of me,"

He lightens the tone but it's still a challenge, but he sees that she doesn't fall for it.

"You wish," she rolls her eyes, and then she changes the subject. "So did you make the team?"

"Yeah, I think so," Dean says. "Whitey talked to me afterwards and even though he was kind of gruff about it, he said that I did better than any of the other guys yesterday and he sees some 'workable material' in me."

"He's more bark than bite," Rachel says fondly.

"Yeah, he is pretty nice except for that mock grumpy old man attitude," Dean says, chuckling. "I think some of the girls on the cheerleading team were also glad I made it,"

He wiggles his eyebrows at her, and she laughs. "Those girls are always looking for new boys check out and I'm amazed that Brooke can get them to even focus for practices where we have to share the gym."

"Well, the cheerleaders aren't too hard on the eyes either." He says, looking directly at her. Rachel smirks and she's about to say something before Ms. Holland interrupts,

"You can flirt on your own time, Ms. Gatina and Mr. Winchester, but I have a class to start."

Dean and Rachel both snap to attention, and Rachel gives him a smirk that he can't help returning as soon as Ms. Holland's back is turned to them and she starts writing on the board.

All class, the two of them keep exchanging glances and Dean can swear that she's checking him out when he's not looking.

He's always liked playing basketball and sports, and he doesn't mind going to practice, but now there's a lot more motivation than there used to be.

* * *

Haley checks her watch for the second time before straightening the books she's laid out on the table at the tutoring centre, waiting for Nathan to arrive.

"Hey," Nathan enters, giving her a dutiful kiss before he sets his duffle bag on the table. Despite the fact that they were dating, Haley still tried to be disciplined about the time they spent together at the tutoring centre.

"Nathan, you have a test next week and we only have a few days to prepare for it," Haley reminded him, slipping into "tutor mode", and not "girlfriend mode". She's not trying to be crabby, but she cares about Nathan too much to let his grades slide.

"I know, Haley," Nathan was calmer. "Look, Whitey's choosing some of the new guys to fill the roster in the team. Lucas and I had to have a co-captains meeting with him to give our input before he makes the final decision."

"Okay." Haley responded, not completely convinced. She knew that basketball was important to him and that Nathan took his co-captaincy quite seriously, but she still cared about him and wanted him to do well in his classes. She wants to know how Nathan and Lucas are getting along, but she doesn't want to dive too deeply into the conversation right now when they have some more pressing things to worry about, such as making sure Nathan gets at least a B in Math.

"So things between you and Luke are okay?" She tentatively asks, unsure of how this co-captaincy is working out.

"Yeah, for now – I mean, I admit that he's pretty good and he's actually pretty good at strategy. As long as Dan isn't giving either of us a hard time I guess things can work out." Nathan sighs – it's difficult to move past all the lies that Dan fed him growing up about his half-brother, but honestly, outside of the drama in freshman year, Luke isn't that bad of a guy.

"Why don't we just get back to Math and we'll talk about the rest of it later?" Nathan changes the subject – he'd rather spend time with Haley, even if it involves learning Trigonometry than talk more about the situation at home. Besides, time spent with Haley is way better than time spent at home. His parents are at least willing to live in the same house with one another, and there's an uneasy truce between them, but that doesn't mean that things aren't awkward. Haley is concentrating on the diagrams she's drawing for him on the page, and Nathan shoves all other thoughts out of his mind for now, knowing that Haley wouldn't be happy if he was distracted.

As Nathan and Haley work through his Math homework together, Nathan can't help but smile when he appreciates again how patient Haley is. He is really trying hard to be the kind of guy that she wants to be with, and he definitely wants his parents to not be so judgmental about him dating Haley. His mom is great about it, but like other things in Nathan's life, Dan Scott still sneers and generally gives Nathan a rough time.

"Nathan," Haley warns when she notices him drifting off in his thoughts again.

"I'm still here," Nathan says, snapping to attention.

Yeah, he needs to find a way to get his parents used to the idea of him and Haley being together.


End file.
